Elevator door



A. F'ls'cHER ELEVATOR DOOR Filed Dec. 6, 1920 IS Sheets-Sheet l A. FISCHER ELEVATOR noon Sept. 23., 1924,

'5 Shoats-Sheet 2 Fil ed Dec. 6, 1920 Sept. 23', 1924. v 1,509,670

* A. FISCHER ELEVATOR DOOR Filed Dec. 6. 1920 3' Shoots-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 23, 1924..

recent UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADAM: FISCHER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T GUARANTY IRON & STEEL 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A GOR-POH-ATION OF ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOR DOOR.

Application filed December 6, 1920. Serial No. 428,652.

To aZZ 107mm it may concern.

Be it known that I, ADAM Fisorrnn, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator Doors, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved construction for elevator doors of the type wherein the door comprises two sections vertically shiftable in opposite directions into and out of posi tion to close the opening through which approach to and from the elevator is had; to provide improved means for moving said door sections bodily transversely to the plane in which they are shifted in order to enable the door sections for one door opening to pass the door sections for openings on the floors above and below, whereby it is pos sible to use higher door sections than heretofore used and obtain a greater area of door opening; and to provide an improved construction and arrangement of contractible means coacting with the guideways and normally holding the door sections against sidewise shifting in the plane thereof but permitting sidewise expansion in such plane, when said door is subjected to excessive heat as in the case of fire, without preventing subsequent shifting of said door sections.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation from the elevator side thereof of an improved door constructed in accordance with this invention.

2 is an enlarged transverse sectional detail taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 one end of the elevator door being shown in the position which it occupies when both of the door sections are in their closed positions and the other end of the elevator door being shown in the relative vertical nositi on which it occupies when being vertically shifted.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same as viewed from the left of 1, with the lefthand guide rail removed.

Fig. 4; is a side elevation from the inside of the right-hand guide rail, the lower end of the figure being extended so as to indicate the upper end of a door section directly below and in alinement with the door sectious illustrated in the main part of the fig ure.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation from the left of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a similar view taken on the line 7-? of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the lower door section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the locking means by which the door sections are secured-in their closed positions.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged front elevation of one of the cam blocks of the type used at the upper ends of the lower door section and the lower ends of the upper door section.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the same.

12 is a view similar to Fig. 10 but viewed from the opposite face.

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of the cam block shown in Fig. 10, as viewed from the left.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged side elevation of one of the cam blocks of the type used at the lower ends of the lower door section and the upper ends of the upper door section.

Fig. 15 is a. front elevation of the same.

Fig. 16 is an enlarged detail view showing the position of the latch member on the cam blocks shown in Figs. 14: and 15 when said blocks are approaching the positions to move said door sections transversely inwvardly into their closed positions.

Fig. 17 is a similar view showing the position of the latch members on the cam when the door sections are in their closed positions.

An elevator door constructed 'in accordance with this invention involves the use of a-pair of lower and upper door sections 1 and 2 vertically slidable in opposite directions along guide rails 3 arranged at opposite sides of a door opening 5 (see Figs. 1 and 4.), the door sections being guided in their movements through the coaction of cam blocks 6 arranged at the corners of the door sections. The most essential feature of the invention is the provision of the cam blocks 6 and 6 with their inclined ends coacting with inclined cam surfaces on the guide rails 3 so that the door sections are moved bodily transversely to the plane of vertical movement for the purpose of shifting the doors out of the plane which they normally occupy when closed, so that in moving up and down respectively they are able to pass the door sections closing the openings on adjacent floors above and below.

The door sections 1 and 2 are constructed more or less in accordance with the arrangement illustrated in the Richard J. Ross Patent No. 1,175,085, dated March 14. 1916, the same involving the use of a rectangular frame made up of angle irons across which in a vertical direction extend several braces 7 and between which are arranged panels 8 of corrugated metal. Although this construction is preferred, it is by no means essential. to the successful use of the invention. The simultaneous shifting of the door sections 1 and 2 is accomplished through the medium of chains 9 secured at 10 to the lower corners of the upper door section and at 11 to the upper corners of the lower door section, which chains run over rollers 12 locat-ed near the top of the opening 5. The upper door section is slightly counterweighted in any convenient manner so as to make the shifting of the door sections easy.

The guide rails 3 are made up of channel and angle iron parts so as to provide on opposite sides of the door opening guide ways 13 for the upper door section and guideways 14 for the lower door section. At their lower ends the guideways 13 are respectively inclined inwardly and downwardly, thereby providing cam surfaces 15, and adjacent the upper end of the opening 4'3 are each provided with a downwardly inclined branch providing cam surfaces 16. The guideways 14 are similarly constructed. the upper ends thereof being inclined inwardly and upwardly, thereby providing cam surfaces 15, and adjacent to the bottom of the opening 5 having inwardly and.

upwardly inclined branches which provide the cam surfaces 16.

The cam blocks 6 and 6 are all of the same general shape, being substantially that of a diamond, thereby providing inclined surfaces which are adapted to coact with the cam surfaces 15, 16, 15 and 16 on the guide rails 3. There is a slight difference between the cam blocks used at the lower and upper corners of the upper and lower door sections respectively and those used atthe upper and lower corners of such door sections. This difference is principally in the provision of latches 29 (see Figs. 14 and 15) on the ends of the extension 17 of the cam blocks 6. These latches or pawls protrude beyond the inner faces of the cam blocks and are normally urged against the ends of the extension 17 by springs 30.

Vvhen the door sections are in their closed positions or when shifting, these pawls occupy .a position slightly retracted from the end of the extension 17 (see Figs. 3 and 17) due to their contact with both sides of the guideways. The special function of these pawls' 29 is to engage the shoulders 31 (Figs. 4, 16 and 17) of the cam surfaces 16 and 16- and insure the shifting of the lower end of the lower door section and the upper end of the upper door section into their fully closed positions.

These cam blocks 6 and 6 are secured to the edges of the door sections 1 and 2 at the four corners thereof and so arranged that the inclined ends thereof coacting with the cam surfaces 15, 16, 15 and 16' respcc' lively. cause the door sections when closed to be shifted inwardly firmly against the wall surrounding the opening 5 but causr the door sections to move bodily transversely to the plane of vertical shifting when the doors are opened, so that the vertical travel of the doors after this initial transverse movement is in a plane offset from the plane which said door sections and all others on other floors occupy when in their closed positions. When in their closed positions the extensions 17 on the cam blocks 6 seat themselves in the channels 18 between the cam surfaces 15 and 15' so as to cause the door sections to be more rigidly held in their closed positions and prevent any bowing or shifting thereof outwardly away from the wall of the building if any thrust or pressure is put upon the door from the inside.

In order to have the door sections supported in the guide rails with little or no sidewise play and yet capable of being ex panded considerably sidewise when subjected to intense heat such as a fire, and still be capable of shifting, the door sections 1 and. 2 are provided with collapsible or contractible means 19 located at the four corncrs of each door section. These collapsible means are in the form of ring-shaped flat metal bands secured to the sides of the cam blocks 6. the latter being recessed for that purpose. These members normally abut against the bottoms of the guideways l3 and 14. which tends to bring the outer edges of the cam blocks 6 into contact with the sides of the guideways 13. If a fire should occur and these door sections be sulr jectcd to intense heat. the rings will collapse and even though the doors are thus distorted by the heat they may still. be shifte as before.

As with the door illustrated in the aforesaid Ross patent. these door sections may be locked along their lower edges so as to be secured against being pulled or forced outwardly when subjected to heat or pressure respectively. This is accomplished by means of a rail 20 (see Fig. 6) extending along the bottom of the opening 5 which is provided with a shoulder or ledge 21 between which and the Wall the lower angle bar of the lower door is disposed when (he doors are in their closed positiona Like-- wise the lower door section 1 is provided with an angle plate located at the upper edge thereof, the vertical part of which is adapted to coact with thisrail 20 for locating the horizontal partin alinement with the floor of the opening 5 so as to provide a trucking plate connection between the floor and the elevator, as more fully explained in the aforesaid patent.

A. door construction of this kind may also he provided with a locking mechanism which, as herein illustrated, comprises a pair of arms and 241 mounted on the lower door section 1 so to shift horizontally for the purpose of moving; the ends thereof into and out of position to engage shoulders (see 1 and 9) located in the adjacent portions of the guide rails 3 and 4. These arms 23 and 2 1 are connected at their inner ends to a link 26 which is actuated by a handle 27.

The operation of the door sections herein illustrated and described is substantially as follows: Normally all of the elevator doors up and down the elevator shaft are closed and since the locking mechanism is on the inside of each door section it is only possible to open a door when the elevator is in position at the respective floor. To open the door the handle 27 is shifted so as to retract the ends of the arms 23 and 241 from the shoulders 25, whereupon the lower door section 1 is pulled downwardly which by virtue of their connection by the chains 9 causes the upper door section 2 to move up wardly. The cam blocks 6 acting with the cam surfaces 15, 16, 15 and 16 first cause the door sections to move bodily transversely to their planes, whereupon they may then be moved vertically in the guideways 13 and 14-. This moving of the door sections out of the plane which they occupy when closed permits the lower door section I, to move on down below and past the upper door section of the floor below and permits the upper door section to move upwardly past the lower door section of the opening on the floor above. For this reason it is possible to use higher door sections and therefore obtain larger openings througl'i. which approach to and from the elevator is had.

Before the elevator is moved away from the floor it is advisable, and in many elevator constructions means are provided so that itis necessary, to first close the door, which is accomplished by either pulling up on the lower section 1 or down on the upper section 2. ln moving" toward their closed positions the door sections travel along; the guideways 13 and 14 until the cam blocks 6 reach the inclined cam surfaces 15, 16, 15 and 16, whereupon the door sections are moved bodily inward transversely to plane of vertical movement and seated and locked automatically in their closed positions. The tapering of the cam surfaces 15 and 15' into the intermediate restricted pow tion. insures the extensions 17 eoacting therewith to effect the transverse n'ioveinent of the adjacent door section ends into their fully closed positions. Similarly the pawls 29 dropping down against the extensions 17 and abutting against the shoulder -31 insures the non-adjacent ends of the door sections being moved tinnsvensel into their fully closed positions.

rilthough'but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without depart ing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. An elevator door, comprising two sections vertically shiftable in opposite directions into and out of position to close an opening, guideways for said door sections, said guideways adjacent to the middle thereof and the lower end of the opening being inclined downwardly and outwardly and adjacent to the middle and the upper end of the opening being inclined upwardly and outwardly, and cam blocks at the corners of said door sections adapted to fit within said guideways for directing the vertical movement of said door sections, said cam blocks having the ends thereof inclined to coact with the inclined parts of said guideways for moving said door sections bodily transversely to the planeof shifting as said door sections are moved into and out of their respective positions to close said opening.

2. An elevator door, comprising two sections vertically shiftable in opposite direc tions into and out of position to close an opening, guideways for said door sections, said guideways adjacent to the middle thereof and the lower end of the opening being inclined downwardly and outwardly and adjacent to the middle and the upper end of the opening; being inclined upwardly and outwardly, cam blocks at the corners of said door sections adapted to lit. within said guideways for directing the vertical movement of said door sections, said cam blocks having the ends thereof inclined to coact with the inclined. parts of said guideways for moving said door sections bodily transversely to the plane of shifting as said door sections are moved into and out of their respective positions to close said opening, and collapsible means on said cam blocks adapted to coact with the bottoms of said gnideways for normally holding said door sections against sidewise shifting in the plane thereof, and thereby cause said cam blocks to travel along the outer edges of said gnideways, said collapsible means being adapted to provide for an expansion of said door sections in the plane thereof and thereby permit operation of the doors at all times.

3. An elevator door vertically shiftable into and out of position to close an opening, guideivays for said door arranged at the vertical edges thereof but offset from the plane of said door when in its closed position, said guideways being each provided with inclined branches one located at the terminus of the respective guideway and the other intermediate the ends thereof, cam members on the corners of said door fitting said guideways so as to direct the vertical movement of said door, said cams bein shaped so as to coact with the incline branches of said guideWa-ys for the purpose of moving said door bodily transversely to the plane of shifting, and latches yieldingly mounted on the cam members which coact with said intermediate branches and adapted to engage the same so as to insure transverse shifting of the corresponding ends of said door.

Signed at Chicago this 29 day of Nov., 1920.

ADAM FISCHER. 

